"Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional."-Chili Davis. Right now, 65 and older is the fastest growing demographic in the country. Unfortunately, significant decline in muscle mass, for both men and women, occurs between ages 50 and 69 and is most dramatic after the age of 70. As of 2006, adults over 75 were nearly three times as likely as those age 65-74 to require the help of another person in performing activities of daily living such as eating, dressing, or bathing, and instrumental activities of daily living such as household chores or shopping (www.cdc.gov). The good news is that exercise participation can reverse the loss of function regardless of when a person becomes active.
Resistance training is the "fountain of youth" for all people but research provides evidence that eccentric-focused strength training significantly decreases the risk of falling. Falls are the most common cause of injury-related death in persons over 75 years of age and should therefore be considered the most important goal of senior fitness. Research now shows that aging muscles respond best to eccentric muscle contractions during resistance training and that it is functional for reducing risk of falls. Eccentric movement describes muscles lengthening under tension, a.k.a. negative work. Going down stairs, bending down to pick something up off the floor, or setting your child down on the floor from a high chair are practical examples of working your muscles eccentrically.
One research study (Lastayo et al, 2003) involved two groups of adult patients, average age 80.3, undergoing either a traditional weight training program or a negative work (eccentric) resistance exercise program. The resistance for negative work was a motorized recumbent bike that drives the pedals in a backward rotation against the legs. The legs are forced to resist the motor-powered pedals on this unique recumbent bike. Essentially, it was a "negative cardio" program as it was done continuously for 10-20 minutes, 3 times a week. Both groups clinically improved strength and reduced fall risk but the negative group improved significantly more than the traditional. Besides eccentric strength training being better, another conclusion you can draw from this is that any strength training is better than nothing. The researchers also determined that negative work may be ideally suited to exercise-intolerant individuals (people that have a hard time moving).
Being that motorized recumbent bikes don't exist in gyms today, the first practical application is to change the tempo of your strength exercises. If you are squatting, you would go down (eccentric) in 5 seconds, come up in 1 second. For a lat pulldown, you would pull down in 1 second and let it back up slowly in 5 seconds (eccentric). A second application is to walk downhill. To make it similar to the above study, you would walk downhill for a total of 20 minutes (the time it takes you to walk back up doesn't count). Depending on the size of the hill, this may take a few repeats. A third application is to have a partner or personal trainer assist the concentric (positive) so you can resist a larger eccentric (negative) load. For example, you would put a heavier-than-one-repetition load on a bench press. The down portion (eccentric) is therefore done at a higher load than you would have to lift back up by yourself. Heavy loading is the ultimate goal of negative work because we are stronger eccentrically. Research also shows that heavy eccentric work is not injurious as the gym myths would make you think.
Adapting exercise and research to our aging bodies is a challenge so contact a fitness professional to improve your fitness routine. In the end, though, "Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many" (author unk). See you in the gym.
Jon Clancy is a certified
strength coach who personal-trains at Anytime Fitness (Cortland) and The Gym
(Lansing).
"Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional."-Chili Davis. Right now, 65 and older is the fastest growing demographic in the country. Unfortunately, significant decline in muscle mass, for both men and women, occurs between ages 50 and 69 and is most dramatic after the age of 70. As of 2006, adults over 75 were nearly three times as likely as those age 65-74 to require the help of another person in performing activities of daily living such as eating, dressing, or bathing, and instrumental activities of daily living such as household chores or shopping (www.cdc.gov). The good news is that exercise participation can reverse the loss of function regardless of when a person becomes active. 
